The Importance of Professional Meeting for Nurses

I attended the School Nurse Symposium 2011 today held at the Knapp Medical Conference Center. The Texas School Nurse Organization (TSNO) sponsored this event, which was primarily attended by the Rio Grande Valley school nurses. This year’s theme is, ‘Opening Doors to Better Health’. This symposium is organized to provide relevant nursing topics that impact school nursing and to utilize specific strategies and applications in the clinic practice. The presentations are geared towards improving patient outcome through the use of improved assessment, effective communication, and appropriate application. The eight-hour course agenda include discussions on Assessment of Childhood Illnesses, Anger Management, Obesity/ Diabetes, and Essential Fatty Acid and Health. Door prizes and exhibits were included that made the activity more fun and entertaining. This nursing professional meeting is indeed successful.

The symposium is a great learning opportunity for the participants. I personally learned the value of school nurses in our community. Nursing profession is aiming towards improving health. I realized that school nurses, like any other areas in nursing, are constantly facing an ever rising demands in dealing with health care needs of not just school children but organizational staffs as well. I was able to learn the nature of school nursing and its current trends, issues, and challenges. I learned about relevant nursing topics that influence school nursing. I learned the importance of thorough assessment and screening to detect childhood illnesses, the proper techniques in dealing with an angry child, the effective ways in managing childhood obesity and diabetes, and the benefits of essential fatty acids in our health. And because the presenters are Rio Grande Valley physicians, I was able to absorb some specific strategies and applications in the local clinic practice. Most importantly, I learned the importance of professional organizations in our nursing profession. I realized that professional organizations such as TSNO are promoting goals to assist nurses toward professional growth and development. I learned that professional advancement is necessary in our community. Attending to professional meetings and taking part in professional organizations in nursing are vital in improving the delivery of our health care system and the global health in general. The learning experience from this seminar is meaningful to me. I am looking forward to attend more professional meetings in the future because I learned from this symposium that participation in professional organizations is one key to achieve advanced practice nursing. I am very grateful for the success of the symposium.